My Own Private Buster
A few weeks ago, I heard news that my favorite childhood animated cartoon, Tiny Toon Adventures, has been "green-lit" for a DVD release! This means that the series has been approved to begin being worked on for an eventual commercial release after all these years. It's about as close as we have to Warner Bros. actually saying it's officially happening. At this point, however, estimations for release put it out sometime in 2008, so it'll still be a while. It will be nice to have a copy of that show on my shelf. It has been a long time...
The idea of Tiny Toon DVDs made me nostalgic. I floated over to eBay and did a search on Tiny Toons looking for whatever came up. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but maybe a memento or trinket that I can snatch to remember the old days or even turn into a collage. Instead, I stumbled upon something wild. People on eBay were selling what are called production cells. When an animated show is made, the actual drawings are made on transparent sheets of cellophane plastic called cells. Characters are drawn and then painted. Backgrounds are drawn separately and the two elements come together to be photographed one at a time generating frames of film. Production cells are the cellophane cells that actually get used in the actual production of the show.
Now, Tiny Toons was a unique show. Typically, a cartoon would generate 10,000 cells for every 30-minute episode. Tiny Toons generated 25,000 cells per 30-minute episode, resulting in more fluid character motion. Over the show's entire run of 98-episodes, two specials and a feature film, that equates to a little more than 2.5 million individual cells. What happens to these cells? I'm not exactly sure. I bet some are simply thrown out, some are kept by the animators or staff, some are lost, some get stored away in boxes somewhere and then there are those that are smuggled out and sold on eBay. That's where I saw a few over the last couple weeks and jumped at the chance to own one. One seller had three separate Buster Bunny cells sold one right after the next but I didn't like any of the poses he had. Buster would have his eyes closed or look goofy.
Finally, after a couple weeks of waiting, the seller's third cell auction had the best pose yet and I decided to pursue it. To my amazement, I ended up winning the auction for the rock-bottom price of $15. No one apparently wanted it even though the other less interesting poses went for $30. Go figure. It arrived a couple days ago and I've just been in awe of it and what it represents in the history of traditional animation. Yea, there are 2.5 million of these production cells out there, but this one is mine. Once the DVDs come out next year, I'll be able to point to this frame in the series and say, "That frame right there is hanging on my wall." I'm such a geek.
Here's the cell:
Isn't it amazing? The background is a simple sheet of paper. The sheet itself is huge- 11 inches by 14 inches. You can see the mounting tab holes at the bottom as well as the production information. It reads, "142-C12A T63". That stands for production number 142, scene (I think) 12A, frame (I think) 63. Using that information, I learned that this frame is from the episode called, "Europe in 30 Minutes," which was animated by Wang Film Productions in Taiwan sometime in early 1990. This episode was "banned" because it spoofed Princess Diana. Once she died, the episode was pulled from future re-broadcast out of respect for her. In a strange irony, it aired in syndication the same day she died. The frame itself is shown about 2/3rds the way through the episode at a point when Buster turns to the audience and breaks the fourth wall. You can see it at this link and skipping to the very end. The frame rate is rather crappy so the actual frame isn't shown but would be when the DVD comes out. Until then, this is the best evidence I've got that what I bought is legit.
Okay, I've made this entry long enough. Just wanted to write out what I consider to be a wonderful Christmas gift to myself. See ya, toonsters!
The idea of Tiny Toon DVDs made me nostalgic. I floated over to eBay and did a search on Tiny Toons looking for whatever came up. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but maybe a memento or trinket that I can snatch to remember the old days or even turn into a collage. Instead, I stumbled upon something wild. People on eBay were selling what are called production cells. When an animated show is made, the actual drawings are made on transparent sheets of cellophane plastic called cells. Characters are drawn and then painted. Backgrounds are drawn separately and the two elements come together to be photographed one at a time generating frames of film. Production cells are the cellophane cells that actually get used in the actual production of the show.
Now, Tiny Toons was a unique show. Typically, a cartoon would generate 10,000 cells for every 30-minute episode. Tiny Toons generated 25,000 cells per 30-minute episode, resulting in more fluid character motion. Over the show's entire run of 98-episodes, two specials and a feature film, that equates to a little more than 2.5 million individual cells. What happens to these cells? I'm not exactly sure. I bet some are simply thrown out, some are kept by the animators or staff, some are lost, some get stored away in boxes somewhere and then there are those that are smuggled out and sold on eBay. That's where I saw a few over the last couple weeks and jumped at the chance to own one. One seller had three separate Buster Bunny cells sold one right after the next but I didn't like any of the poses he had. Buster would have his eyes closed or look goofy.
Finally, after a couple weeks of waiting, the seller's third cell auction had the best pose yet and I decided to pursue it. To my amazement, I ended up winning the auction for the rock-bottom price of $15. No one apparently wanted it even though the other less interesting poses went for $30. Go figure. It arrived a couple days ago and I've just been in awe of it and what it represents in the history of traditional animation. Yea, there are 2.5 million of these production cells out there, but this one is mine. Once the DVDs come out next year, I'll be able to point to this frame in the series and say, "That frame right there is hanging on my wall." I'm such a geek.
Here's the cell:
Isn't it amazing? The background is a simple sheet of paper. The sheet itself is huge- 11 inches by 14 inches. You can see the mounting tab holes at the bottom as well as the production information. It reads, "142-C12A T63". That stands for production number 142, scene (I think) 12A, frame (I think) 63. Using that information, I learned that this frame is from the episode called, "Europe in 30 Minutes," which was animated by Wang Film Productions in Taiwan sometime in early 1990. This episode was "banned" because it spoofed Princess Diana. Once she died, the episode was pulled from future re-broadcast out of respect for her. In a strange irony, it aired in syndication the same day she died. The frame itself is shown about 2/3rds the way through the episode at a point when Buster turns to the audience and breaks the fourth wall. You can see it at this link and skipping to the very end. The frame rate is rather crappy so the actual frame isn't shown but would be when the DVD comes out. Until then, this is the best evidence I've got that what I bought is legit.
Okay, I've made this entry long enough. Just wanted to write out what I consider to be a wonderful Christmas gift to myself. See ya, toonsters!